Temps On The Rise Again

Wednesday will be a sunny and warmer day for many as our weather pattern shifts. High pressure to our east will retrograde and bring breezy conditions and warmer temps back into the forecast, especially for late week. Stratus clouds will start off the day at the coast and inland valleys with patchy fog/mist possible before dissipating. Then sunny and dry conditions will continue. Above normal temps and a moderate heat risk will return for some inland areas. A fire weather concern will increase as we head into the weekend and next week.

AIR QUALITY: Good 

Overnight: Increasing low clouds becoming partly to mostly cloudy at the coast, partly cloudy in the valleys. Mostly clear for elevated inland areas. Patchy fog/mist possible near passes by dawn. Lows slightly cooler, with low to mid 50s. Low valleys cooler in the upper 40s. 

Wednesday: Morning overcast will give way to a few low clouds lingering on the south side of the bay. Otherwise sunny with a few high clouds sneaking in from the south late in the day. Coastal highs in the mid 60s to mid 70s with 80s to around 108ºF inland. WNW winds become breezy.

Thursday: Some coastal clouds with afternoon sunshine across the Central Coast with temps warming up above seasonal conditions. Some inland areas will be hot again with a minor to moderate risk expected.

Extended: Temperatures will continue to warm through Friday, peaking 6-12ºF above normal and we’ll cruise through the weekend with continued above normal readings. Latest trends are for warmer weather next week as well.

*Note: Any alerts from the National Weather Service in Monterey will be noted in italics above. Alerts may be edited for brevity or local clarification (in parenthesis).

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This week's normal temperatures:
--COASTAL CITIES--
LOW: 54ºF
HIGH: 68ºF

--INLAND CITIES--
LOW: 52ºF
HIGH: 85ºF
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-The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for July 23^rd – 29^th calls for the likelihood of ABOVE normal temperatures and near normal* precipitation.
*Note: little to no precipitation typically falls this time of year

- ENSO (El Niño/La Niña) STATUS: La Niña Watch
- ENSO Forecast: Transition to La Niña by late summer.
- Area drought status: Currently drought-free
- Monterey Bay Sea Surface Temperature* as of July 15^th: 59.2ºF
(Historic June AVG: 58.4ºF) -- *average of three buoys